Christmas Miracle: Robert X Cringely likes Windows Phone

It would be difficult to find a bigger Apple fanboy than Gruber, but Robert X Cringely would be a pretty good candidate.

He has however joined the list of high profile endorsements for Windows Phone 7, saying:

Yes, it’s true. For the last two weeks, I’ve been been playing around with an HTC Radar 4G [5] running "Mango" (aka Windows Phone 7.5), and I have to say that — despite every molecule of my being screaming in protest — I am favourably impressed.

Hardware-wise, the Radar is lightning fast and feathery in the hand; by comparison, the iPhone 4 feels bricklike and unresponsive. (The Apple fanboy whine festival will begin in three, two… ) It runs for a few days on a charge, unlike my last Android phone, which ran for a few hours.

As for the software, the Metro interface [6] is exceedingly nimble and easily customized; I love how it shows me how many new emails, calls, and messages I’ve gotten at a glance. I like how my calendar is on the home page and it shows me my next appointment automatically. I like how I can flip through the status updates and tweets from my peeps without having to load a separate, often buggy, application.

Yes, there are even apps, a few hundred thousand less than the Android Market or iTunes Store, but still. I got Netflix, Yelp, Angry Birds, and Foursquare, but sadly, no Pandora Radio. There are even flatulence and breast apps, saints be praised.

He complains a bit about a Google Calendar synchronization issue, but otherwise seem fairly impressed.

He concludes:

â€¦ I’ve also been using an iPhone 4 lately, and I say this with all seriousness and some incredulity: Apple, watch your back [9]. Microsoft may have finally figured it out. The battle for the mobile market just got interesting again.